What if 20th Century Animation founded in 1942?/Foxtoons
Foxtoons is a franchise of theatrical shorts and full-length feature films created by later Rocky and Bullwinkle creator Jay Ward, and the cartoon producer TBA, produced by Century City Animation Productions, and released by 20th Century Fox starting from 1942 to 1978, then got revived in 2018. Influenced by Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck and Goofy and Warner Bros' Looney Tunes, Fox decided to start producing theatrical cartoons. This would be after the success of the Terrytoons cartoons. Due to the monster success of the shorts, Fox started a franchise that includes characters that are part of the Foxtoons. Felix Fox was the first character ever to be created. The studio that produced the series Century City Animation Productions, founded by Jay Ward, based in Los Angeles, CA, on September 2, 1942. In 1948, Jay Ward left Century City Animation Productions to open his own animation company which he later created Rocky and Bullwinkle, Jay Ward Productions (currently known as Bullwinkle Studios and now a subsidiary to DreamWorks Classics), TBA In 1978, Fox announced that Foxtoons would no longer have theatrical short films due to them focusing more on cartoons for television. On 2017, Disney announced its intentions to acquire 21st Century Fox, pending regulatory approval. If the deal is approved, Foxtoons would now also be owned by The Walt Disney Company. Nine days prior to the announcement, Fox announced that the Foxtoons theatrical short films will be revived in 2018. The animation for the new Foxtoons shorts are provided by both Digital eMation History 1940s: beginnings 1950s: the boom and heyday of Foxtoons 1960s: final years of the theatrical era 1970s: start of the television era 1980s: new heights and the early Murdoch years 1990s: revival era In 1990, following the unexpected success of The Simpsons, 20th Century Fox announced its interest to revive its animation department by bringing back the Foxtoons series as new shorts, TBD. 2000s: Foxtoons in modern age 2010s: digital age and acquisition by Disney TBD In December 14, 2017, it was announced that 21st Century Fox and most of its assets would be acquired by The Walt Disney Company, which would include Disney's rival animated franchise Foxtoons, pending regulatory approval. However in summer of 2018, Comcast, a company which is parent of NBCUniversal, planned to acquire Fox as well. TBD. On March 19, 2019, The Walt Disney Company would complete the acquisition deal with 21st Century Fox. After Disney renamed 20th Century Fox into 20th Century Studios, the Foxtoons franchise was rumored to be either renamed into Felix Fox and Gang or be incorporated into Mickey and Friends, but the next two days, Bob Igor announced that the name will remain, finding the name "Foxtoons" is way too recognizable to be name changed or TBD. Characters See List of Foxtoons characters. Shorts See List of Foxtoons shorts. In other media Television series * The Foxtoons Show (ABC, 1972-1976) * Films * Foxtoons: The First Ever Cartoony Movie! (2001) * Specials * Video games * Sgt. Snake and Pvt. Peacock: The Great Adventure (1999) * Trivia * While not as popular as now-parent company Disney's Mickey Mouse/''Silly Symphonies'' or Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes/''Merrie Melodies'', Foxtoons still is considered pretty popular. * Folly Fox is officially 20th Century Fox's mascot, although some fans think that position currently belongs to Homer Simpson. * Despite 20th Century Fox's acquisition by Disney in 2019, the company has confirmed that the franchise will not be merged with the Mickey Mouse series due to the fact they have different origins and it wouldn't make much sense if two former rival franchises became a single one nowadays. ** Despite that, Disney will now assume the distribution rights for the franchise, although newer media will still be produced under the 20th Century Fox and 20th Century Fox Television labels. * Despite 20th Century Fox being renamed 20th Century Studios in January 2020, Disney confirmed the Foxtoons name will be kept, although no longer alluding to the studio but to Felix Fox himself instead.